Approved Research This page provides a searchable list of all research protocols that have been reviewed and approved by the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology(UNCST).
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Name Title Nationality Approval Date Expiry Date Field of Science/Classification Trial Type Research Type  
Johanna Meinecke
ID:
Consumer acceptance of novel healthy fruit and vegetable products in East Africa
REFNo: SS418ES

Factors influencing consumers’ perception of processed fruits and vegetables
(1) Examine sensory characteristics of jackfruit juice and cowpea leaf porridge by rural and urban consumers
(2) Elicit consumers’ willingness to pay for jackfruit juice and cowpea leaf porridge
(3) Relate consumers’ dietary and purchasing behaviour to acceptance of processed fruits and vegetables
(4) Analyse if information on products nutritional value, convenience and seasonality can enhance consumers acceptance
 Germany 2020-02-07 2023-02-07 Social Science and Humanities Degree Award
Claudia Ringler
ID:
Reaching Smallholder Women with Information Services and Resilience Strategies to Respond to Climate Change
REFNo: SS464ES

The project goal is to reduce poverty, improve food security, and reduce natural resource degradation for more than 30,000 women in smallholder farm households through piloting climate-smart agricultural approaches using innovative information services in parts of India, Kenya and Uganda. The purpose of the project is that more than 30,000 women farmers and farm families will use information on climate-smart agricultural technologies, practices, and principles for increased resilience to the potentially adverse impacts of climate change, contributing to closing gendered yield gaps, enhanced equity and inclusion and, further, to the CGIAR system-level objectives.
 Germany 2020-06-23 2023-06-23 Social Science and Humanities Non-degree Award
Verena Wiedemann Christina
ID:
Tracking price dynamics during a pandemic
REFNo: SS495ES

Publication of academic study in peer-reviewed journal,Information of policy makers Please note that the districts listed below do not reflect the sample at large. This is because we struggled to add details on a national sample. We strive to include volunteers from all across Uganda.
 Germany 2020-08-18 2023-08-18 Social Science and Humanities Degree Award
Rottenberg Esther Sophia
ID:
Making evidence on antimicrobial resistance: a historical and ethnographic study across the UK and Uganda
REFNo: SS622ES

To show how evidence on antimicrobial resistance is produced with the help of a model.
2) To understand how the context of Hoima shapes the production of knowledge on antimicrobial resistance.
3) To investigate the negotiations taking place within the context of a transnational, interdisciplinary research collaboration.
Germany 2021-07-22 2024-07-22 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
Pia Raffler Johanna
ID:
Access to social media during COVID-19: An analysis of social media's effect on engagement with public affairs and health behaviours in Uganda
REFNo: SS682ES

This study’s objectives are twofold. First, we seek to generate descriptive evidence relating to an important and understudied topic, as outlined in Section 2: social media usage in the Global South, in particular in Uganda. This aspect of our research will generate informative data on the frequency of social media use among peri-urban Ugandans under the age of 40, the types of social media they use, and whether they use it for entertainment, to seek information, or to communicate with fellow citizens and local politicians.
Second, we seek to generate causal evidence regarding the effect of increased access to social media on knowledge and behavior with regards to COVID-19 and public affairs, as well as general measures of wellbeing. With regard to knowledge, this causal component of the study will assess whether greater access to social media can help to inform citizens about public affairs and COVID-19, and the extent to which social media contributes to the spread of misinformation. With regard to behavior, the study will assess whether increased access to social media leads to disengagement from real-life social interactions, increased community and political engagement, and changes in the adoption of safe practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19. With regard to wellbeing, the study will assess whether greater access to social media leads to decreased happiness and wellbeing, as has been found in other contexts such as the United States.
Germany 2021-07-02 2024-07-02 Social Science and Humanities Non-degree Award
Nora Slania Esther
ID: UNCST-2021-R012549
 The evolutionary roots of curiosity: Understanding the interplay of chimpanzee (pan troglodytes) exploration tendencies, problem-solving skills, and neophobia
REFNo: NS319ES

We plan to identify conditions and factors that promote or suppress curiosity, as defined by
an interplay of exploration tendencies and neophobia, in chimpanzees in their natural
environment
 Germany 2022-02-04 2025-02-04 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
Sarika Dewan
ID:
Maternal exposure to violence and child malnutrition: a cross-sectional survey in northern Uganda
REFNo: SS845ES

Understand the impact of COVID-19 on maternal well-being and victimization, feeling of safety and access to services,Examine the role of maternal depression as a mediator between violence exposure, nutrition-sensitive behaviour and child malnutrition.,Determine the impact of exposure to violence on maternal nutrition-sensitive behaviour.,Examine the types of violence exposure associated with child malnutrition.,
 Germany 2021-07-01 2024-07-01 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
Thomas Baik
ID:
A Survey of Language Choice and Code Switching in Psychiatric and Neurological Practice
REFNo: HS1432ES

In this study we aim to explore three situations in which language choice can enhance multilingual patients’ cognitive reserve and psychological resilience. Research in psycho- and sociolinguistics suggests that languages can be used to regulate emotional and social distance. For example, one language can be associated with authority and formality, and other with compassion and solidarity (Myers-Scotton, 1995). This study aims to investigate whether such differential use of languages is also used in medicine and psychotherapy and can be applied to regulate inner emotions. This leads us to our research question: Can multilingualism benefit psychiatric and neurological patients through a mechanism of emotional distance regulation.
We will address language choice and code switching in the context of trauma and psychosis in psychotherapy as well as in the process of neurodegeneration in neurological patients. We aim to address the question of the importance of language choice in illness from all three perspectives of the biopsychosocial model, since each of the above-mentioned groups has one component of the biopsychosocial model in the foreground, meaning that in neurological patients the predominant component is biology, psychosis patients are strongly influenced by psychological factor and in trauma patients the experiences are strongly embedded in social factors.

Germany 2021-06-18 2024-06-18 Medical and Health Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
Kristina Roesel
ID:
Boosting Uganda's investments in livestock development (BUILD)
REFNo: A139ES

The program is divided into four different components that will be aligned and integrated, especially on activities that involve national stakeholder engagement and capacity building. Component 1 on Peste de petits ruminants (PPR) combines socio-economic studies, vaccine targeting and delivery, regional Pan-African networking activities (e.g. PENAPH, PPR alliance GPRA) and capacity development at the Biosciences eastern and Central Africa (BecA)-Hub at ILRI Nairobi: Objective1: Develop a socio-economic framework to assess the impact of PPR interventions Activities: Household survey in different livestock production systems; Longitudinal study-sentinel households; System dynamic modeling; Focus group discussions Outputs: Livelihoods impacts of different PPR control options Objective 2: Update the epidemiological status of PPR to allow assessment of control options Activities: Cross-sectional survey in different livestock productions systems; Post vaccination sampling; Genetic characterization of PPRV isolates; Participatory disease search; Slaughter house surveillance; Develop PPR risk maps Outputs: Updated risk map of PPR, circulating PPR genotypes, other important SR diseases Objective 3: Capacity development Activities: Support review of National PPR control strategy; Review of animal health services; Multi-stakeholder platform for AH service delivery to discuss gaps and define new mechanisms for control and surveillance; Strengthen passive surveillance system; Awareness creation of farmers; Post vaccination sampling Outputs: Novel models of animal health service delivery, strengthened surveillance system, capacity enhanced Component 2 on Rift Valley fever (RVF) includes the characterization of animal and human samples from outbreaks in 2016 and 2018, socio-economics, development of a risk and vulnerability map for Uganda as a decision-making tool Objective 1: Improved knowledge on RVF epidemiology Activities: Genotyping (RVF and other viruses); Serology (establish Gn/Gc distribution); Outbreak response; Entomological studies; Risk mapping Objective 2: Socio-economic studies Activities: Ex-ante analyses of control options; KAP questionnaire surveys; Gender assessments – exposure and constraints on uptake of interventions Objective 3: Develop National action plans/policy work and extension Activities: Contingency plans/decision support tools; Community trainings Outputs: RVF risk map, genetic characterization of circulating strains (informs vaccine interventions), Improved RVF national action plans, Training and communication materials, capacity building, improved capacity on vector sampling/surveys and biological sampling; PhD/MSc training Component 3 on Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) will contribute to the finalization of the National AMR action plan, describe and quantify the use of antimicrobials in the peri-urban poultry value chain. Objective 1: Understand knowledge, attitude, practices, and incentives for AMU in poultry value chains in Uganda, and the role of formal and informal markets Activities: Literature review on AMR and AMU in the poultry sector in Uganda; Gender sensitive rapid appraisal with AMUSE tool; Identify possible intervention entry points to improve AMU Objective 2: Assess risks to humans from poultry-associated AMR: Research on AMR transmission risks at the human-animal-environmental interface in different poultry production systems (smallholder and commercial; rural and peri-urban) in Uganda Activities: Map possible transmission pathways within the production system; Conduct AMR and residue prevalence surveys; In-depth AMR transmission studies that include environmental samples, and farm workers, and samples from other animal species potentially housed together with poultry; Outline risk pathways for human exposure to AMR from poultry production Objective 3: Design and evaluate interventions to reduce AMU in poultry value chains in Uganda Activities: Design interventions (co-design with poultry producers), closely monitor implementation over time to understand incentives to motivate change; Establish drug use monitoring system in poultry farms to allow M&E; Qualitative and quantitative analysis of intervention impact Objective 4: Support evidence-based policy dialogue for antimicrobial surveillance and AMR strategies Activities: Organise multi-stakeholder workshops to discuss feasibility, challenges, and constraints in implementing NAP in poultry sector, involve representatives from other countries and support continued review of NAP Objective 5: Build capacity in value chain actors, implementers, researchers Activities: Conduct capacity development need assessment; Develop capacity development plan for different stakeholder groups Component 4 on Veterinary Public health (VPH) at the point of slaughter includes scaling of already piloted butcher training curricula and implementation of abattoir-based sentinel studies for animal disease surveillance Objective 1: development of curriculum for capacity building of meat handlers on good hygienic practices (slaughter house personnel, butchers, meat transporters); meat inspectors on carcass inspection and mobile reporting; Public engagement of consumers; laboratory personnel (GLP and quality assurance) Activities: Baseline assessment of meat handlers’ knowledge and practices; hygiene indicators, selected pathogens; Consolidation and adaptation of existing materials for training of butchers; assessment of suitability of consolidated training materials and delivery mode with stakeholders; delivery of the training; endline study to assess success of the intervention Objective 2: proof-of-concept slaughterhouses as sentinels for zoonotic disease Activities: Mapping slaughterhouses through key informants and GIS; grey and published literature review; prioritization of disease in slaughterhouses/ identification of critical control points – KII and FGD with vets, meat inspectors, public health staff; Ethnographic observation of slaughterhouses; biological survey in animals and humans
Germany 2022-05-13 7:44:12 2025-05-13 Agricultural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Nadine Schubert
ID:
Genetically-based social communication in an inbred group-living wild mammal
REFNo: NS273ES

The aim is to investigate the role of immune genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) in affecting odour cues used for social communication in banded mongooses. Furthermore, we want to investigate the link between MHC composition of an individual and fitness parameters as well as the impact of the MHC on microbiota communities. Last, it is crucial to test the ability of banded mongooses to discriminate MHC-based differences in odour cues in a natural setting.
 Germany 2021-10-05 2024-10-05 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
Tobias Klaus
ID:
Africa: Research and Teaching platform for Development - Sustainable Modular Grids for Grid Stability (ART-D Grids)
REFNo: SIR94ES

Together with the African and German partners, the objective of the project is to develop new ways of electrifying remote regions in East Africa through microgrids and their interconnection. These grids on the one hand meet the needs of rural communities for a robust and largely uninterruptible energy supply and on the other hand meet the politically motivated need for a centrally well-manageable power supply within the framework of a national grid. Many years of experience have shown that an interdisciplinary approach makes sense for such a project, since the sustainable operation of infrastructure systems not only depends on sound technology, but social and economic factors also influence sustainable operation.
 Germany 2022-08-09 9:22:32 2025-08-09 Engineering and Technology Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Deborah Wockelmann
ID: UNCST-2021-R012679
 Rwandans and Burundians in Uganda: Linguistic practices of differentiation and categorization
REFNo: SS1023ES

The aim of the dissertation project is to examine the life realities of Banyarwanda in Uganda. It deals with language use, language ideologies and language identity in the context of migration and is anchored in sociolinguistics and anthropological linguistics. The main aim of this research is to identify how people of Rwandan descent in Uganda identify themselves culturally, how they maintain their heritage and how they are seen by others in the society.
 Germany 2022-10-19 10:47:38 2025-10-19 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
Felicitas Becker Maria
ID: UNCST-2021-R013460
 The Aftermath of Slavery in Uganda
REFNo: SS1049ES

This project aims to;1) establish what happened to the thousands of slaves present in Uganda in ca. 1880 and to their descendants over the twentieth century, 2) to explain why the aftermath of slavery is so little discussed in the written sources and historiography of the region, and 3) to trace the social and political legacies of slavery up to the present. The research will help stake holders have knowledge and understanding of historical events/processes, learn from the past and identify vulnerable communities and the way they navigate life. It will help us to understand how society was organized, rediscover forgotten men and women who lived through one of the most challenging times of our lives and advance knowledge about vulnerable groups.
 Germany 2022-08-19 13:07:55 2025-08-19 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Urs KALBITZER
ID:
Aerial Imagery Data for the Construction of Primate Nutritional Landscapes
REFNo: NS303ES

To develop a methodological framework and create high-resolution models of the temporal and spatial distribution of nutrients for primates and other animals, so called ‘nutritional landscapes’
 Germany 2021-10-26 2024-10-26 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Claudia Ringler
ID:
Endline Evaluation for Reaching Smallholder Women with Information Services and Resilience Strategies to Respond to Climate Change
REFNo: SS1127ES

3) At the endline (The subject of this application, to be undertaken in January of 2022), the study will establish the impact of the strategies used to disseminate the climate-smart technologies and approaches and whether these translate into closing gendered yield gaps, enhanced equity and inclusion.
 Germany 2021-12-17 2024-12-17 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Johannes Haushofer
ID: UNCST-2021-R012087
 Well-being and Experience of Ugandan Students.
REFNo: SS1184ES

To determine the medium-term effects of the Malengo program on the students who attend in terms of labor market outcomes, job choice, income, and country of residence and the effect on their psychological well-being (e.g. homesickness, life satisfaction)
To establish How the demand for ISAs compare to demand for student loans
What are the immediate and medium-term effects of the program on the families of selected students, e.g. in terms of remittances received, psychological well-being (e.g. pride, but also missing a child), aspirations, and/or disappointment of siblings? What are the effects on the home communities of the students, e.g. in terms of aspirations and/or disappointment of friends and neighbors?

 Germany 2022-02-21 2025-02-21 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Leonie Eva Benker
ID:
On the emergence of a "post-postcolonial" political imaginary in Uganda
REFNo: SS1282ES

MAIN OBJECTIVES 1. Gain deeper insights into the role that historical-political narratives play in political and social transformation processes, 2. Achieve a better understanding of the transformative potential of political movements in terms of their concrete strategies, practices, and (media) performances, 3. Determine the extent to which the new political forces and developments in Uganda might indicate the emergence of a fundamentally new social and political formation characterized by a move away from a postcolonial and toward a "post-postcolonial" societal self-conception and political imaginary. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES a) Provide a comprehensive account of which historical-political narratives are currently being (re)produced and disseminated in the education sector and which alternative narratives might appear in this context and could be of relevance to A-level and university students. b) Describe how youths and young adults in Uganda today (re)interpret, (re)evaluate and (re)classify events of their country's political past and present and how they might aim to utilize and apply these altered / newly constructed historical-political narratives in and for the formation of their identities as political actors and citizens of the Ugandan nation-state. c) Delineate how these newly emerging historical-political narratives possibly differ from the hitherto dominant narratives and explain how they might seek to provide an alternative to the hitherto dominant historical-political stories and to the current political status quo.
 Germany 2022-06-16 14:44:52 2025-06-16 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
Frederick GOGARTEN Jan
ID:
Comparing traditional monitoring of Kibale wildlife population abundance and health with molecular based environmental DNA based approaches
REFNo: NS343ES

To test the use of air DNA and fly-derived DNA for describing mammal and parasite communities by using the long-term monitoring efforts across transects in Kibale National Park.
Specifically aim to explore the role of flies in disease ecology in and around groups of primates in Kibale National Park, and their potential role as vectors at the human-wildlife interface, including the exploration of changes in fly density and disease prevalence.
Germany 2022-04-19 2025-04-19 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Non-degree Award
Martin Hasselmann
ID:
The molecular mechanisms underlying local adaptation to high elevation habitats in the honey bee Apis mellifera
REFNo: NS350ES

The overall objective is to obtain a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that have driven the local adaption of mountain honey bees.

The research plan is divided into a sequence of different complementary approaches that will
1.) Unravel the evolutionary history of chromosomal rearranged regions contributing to the genetic differentiation of mountain honeybees,
2.) Gain insight into key regulators and gene networks underlying the local adaption of honeybees,
3.) Specifically analyze the role of octopamine ? receptors and further candidate genes as key players for local adaptation to elevation (mainly temperature) in honey bees.

 Germany 2022-07-14 12:35:17 2025-07-14 Natural Sciences Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
Philipp Händel Daniel
ID:
The effect of heterogeneity, scarcity and stochastic externalities on fishers’ behavior in a threatened common pool resource
REFNo: SS1418ES

1. Understand the effects of heterogeneity on cooperative behavior.
2. Understand how the impact of risk-taking on others changes the willingness to take risk.
3. Understand how scarcity affects cooperative behavior.
 Germany 2022-09-12 18:21:28 2025-09-12 Social Science and Humanities Non-Clinical Trial Degree Award
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